MEMORIAL 

OF  THE 

CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE, 

OF  THE 

Printed  by  order  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
January  24th,  1 803. 


/AVER* 


IEx  IGtbrta 

SEYMOUR  DURST 


In  Senate  of  the  United  States. 


JANUARY  24th,  1803. 
— 

Mr.  Morris  prefented  the  Memorial  of  the  cham- 
ber of  commerce  of  the  city  of  New-York,  which 
was  read. 

Ordered,  That  it  be  printed  for  the  ufe  of  the 
Senate. 

Atteft,  SAMUEL  A.  OTIS,  Secretary. 

To  the  honourable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Re- 
presentatives of  the  United  States. 

THE  MEMORIAL  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  THE 
CITY  OF  NEW-YORK, 

RESPECTFULLY  SHEWS— 

AT  your  memorialifls  view  with  much  alarm 
the  renewal  of  an  attempt  to  repeal  the  ads  mak- 
ing difcrimination  between  American  and  foreign 
duties  on  imports  and  tonnage,  and  pray  leave  to 
fubmit  to  the  confideration  of  Congrefs  the  follow- 
ing objections. 

First. — It  will  diminim  the  revenue  to  an  amount 
which,  taking  paft  years  as  the  guide,  would  not  be 
lefs  than  450,000  dollars  per  annum. 


Secondly. — It  will  efTentially  injure  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States,' as  its  effefts  will  be,  by  opening 
the  market  for  freight  to  the  lowefl  bidder,  to  fhift 
the  carrying  trade  from  the  hands  of  our  own  mer- 
chants into  thofe  of  foreigners.  This  your  memo- 
rialifts  believe  will  appear  from  the  following  con- 
fiderations : 

Fir/I. — Foreigners  build  their  veflels  much  cheap- 
er than  we  can  do.    From  actual  calculation  it  is 
found  that  a  veflel  built  o/  European  oak,  and 
equal  to  thofe  built  of  our  live  oak  (which,  befides, 
is  nearly  exhaufted)  cofts,  when  equipped  for  fea, 
at  the  rate  of  36?-  dollars  per  ton;  and  if  built  in 
Finland,  of  their  fir,  of  which  they  have  abund- 
ance, equal  in  duration  to  our  common  oak,  and 
fitted  for  fea  in  the  fame  manner,  {he  will  cofl  at 
the  rate  of  19  dollars  per  ton:  while  the  American 
vefiel,  built  of  our  common  oak,  and  not  fo  well 
equipped,  will  coft  at  the  rate  of  from  40  to  45 
dollars  per  ton  ;  but  if  built  of  live  oak  and  cedar, 
fhc  will  coft  at  the  rate  of  from  50  to  55  dollars 
per  ton. 

Secondly. — The  materials  compofing  equipment, 
fuch  as  ir.-m,  hemp,  fail-cloth,  &c.  are  all  cheaper 
abroad  than  they  are  here,  and  the  price  of  labor 
for  working  them  is  fuppoled  to  be  50  per  cent, 
lefs  there  than  in  the  Uuited  States. 

Thirdly. — Foreigners  navigate  cheaper;  feamen's 
wages  are  lower,  and  many  of  their  crews  confifr. 
of  apprentices  without  wages.    The  apprentice-aft 


5 


of  Great  Britain  renders  it  incumbent  on  every 
owner  or  matter  of  a  vefiel  to  take  with  him  a  cer- 
tain number  of  apprentices,  and  this  they  find  fo 
advantageous,  that  they  frequently  double  or  treble 
that  number;  more  efpecially  veffels  from  the  north 
of  England.  Every  merchant  engaged  in  commerce 
knows  that  the  Hollanders,  Hamburgers,  Danes, 
Swedes,  &c.  man  their  veffels  with  a  ftill  greater 
proportion  of  apprentices :  and  in  the  cheapnefs  of 
their  living,  clothing,  &c.  they  have  a  very  material 
advantageover  the  veffels  of  the  United  States.  Thus 
it  appears  that  foreigners  can  build  cheaper,  equip 
cheaper,  and  fail  their  veffels  cheaper  than  we  can : 
and  it  may  be  added  that  Europeans  are  generally 
fatisfied  with  a  Iefs  gain  than  the  American  mer- 
chant can  afford  to  receive. 

Lajlly. — Although  it  has  been  faid  that  for  us  to 
meet  the  advance  on  the  part  of  Great  Biitain,  and 
to  repeal  our  countervailing  acts,  would  place  the 
two  nations  on  an  equal  footing,  yet  your  memo- 
rialifls  conceive  that  while  Great  Britain  retains  her 
prefent  navigation  act,  this  would  be  very  wide  of 
the  truth.  We,  on  our  part,  mould  thus  permit 
Great  Britain  to  bring  hither  not  only  goods,  the 
growth  or  manufacture  of  that  country,  but  of  all 
others;  while  on  her  part,  by  the  navigation  act  we 
have  jufl:  referred  to,  we  {hall  be  exprefsly  confined 
to  the  carriage  of  goods  the  growth  or  manufacture 
of  the  United  States.    To  this  may  be  addjd,  that 


Britifh  vefiels  would  then  bring  a  freight  from  their 
own  country  to  this;  take  a  freight  here  to  their 
colonies,  where  our  vefTels  are  not  admitted,  and 
from  thence  a  third  freight  home,  making  thus 
three  freights  in  one  voyage.  The  value  of  the  im- 
portation cargoes  is  fo  much  greater  than  the  value 
of  our  exportion  dutiable  cargoes,  that  the  extra 
duties  paid  by  the  foreigner  are  in  many  cafes  equal, 
and  in  fome  cafes  more  than  equal  to  the  whole 
fn  ight ;  fo  that  the  ads  now  propofed  to  be  abo- 
lifhed,  operate  nearly  as  a  prohibition  to  the  foreign- 
er, and  leave  us,  in  a  meafure,  without  competi- 
tors in  our  own  market. 

After  all  that  has  been  faid,  it  hardly  needs  to  be 
added  that  if  our  ports  are  thrown  open  to  foreign- 
ers on  the  fame  terms  with  our  own  vefTels,  as  by 
this  repeal  is  contemplated  (for  it  is  in  vain  to  at- 
tempt to  confine  the  meafure  to  the  Er!:ifli)  they 
will  crowd  our  wharves,  underbid  our  freight,  mo- 
nopolize the  markets,  and  leave  the  American  vef- 
fels  idly  to  rot  in  our  docks.  Your  memorialifts 
have,  therefore,  no  hefitation  in  declaring  that,  in 
their  opinion,  this  meafure  will  be  a  fatal  blow  to  the 
American  carrying  trade. 

It  would  be  eafy  to  mow  in  the  detail  that  this 
would,  in  its  confequences,  prove  extremely  inju- 
rious to  the  agricultural  and  mechanical  clafTes  of 
our  citizens;  a  few  general  obfervations  only  will  be 
indulged. 


First. — As  to  the  agricultural. 

Although,  generally  fpeaking,  freight  is  paid  by 
the  confumer,  and,  therefore,  it  may  be  faid  it  is 
immaterial  to  the  farmer  how  high  or  how  low  it 
may  be,  yet  this  is  not  the  cafe,  when  the  demand 
ceafes  or  flackens ;  it  then  falls  back  on  the  huf- 
bandman.  But  to  transfer  our  carrying  trade  to 
foreigners  will  be  to  lefien  very  much  the  chance  of 
the  demand.  The  active  enterprize  of  the  Ameri- 
can merchant  is  conftantly  looking  abroad  to  every 
part  of  the  world  for  a  market,  and  if  it  is  any 
where  to  be  found,  or  if  there  is  only  a  reafonable 
prefumption  that  it  may  be  found,  the  fanner 
meets  with  a  ready  vent  for  his  produce.  Perhaps 
the  calculations  of  the  merchant  may  be  difappoint- 
ed,  and  he  even  ruined,  yet  the  misfortune  reaches 
not  the  farmer;  he  has  the  fame  benefit  of  a  good 
market.  But  mould  the  American  veffels  once  dif- 
appear,  he  mufl  then  lie  entirely  at  the  mercy  of 
chance  adventurers  for  a  market,  and  when  the 
demand  is  not  very  great  the  price  of  the  freight 
will  be  deducted  from  the  article  itfelf.  All  this 
mufl  necefiarily  tend  effentially  to  leffen  the  value  of 
the  farmer's  produce. 

Secondly. —  As  to  the  mechanical. 

That  numerous  clafs  of  mechanics  who  are  con- 
nected with  (hip-building;  the  carpenter,  theblack- 
fmiih,  the  fail-maker,  the  rope-maker,  &c.  will  of 


courfe  be  deprived  of  employ;  their  labor  will  be 
neither  wanted  nor  paid  'or. 

To  conclude:  Our  {hips  being  thus  banifhed  from 
our  mores,  we  mall  no  longer  furnish  a  nurfery 
for  our  feamen,  but  that  valuable  claf's  of  citizens 
will  be  driven  to  feek  for  tru-ir  bread  in  other  coun- 
tries ;  and  in  any  future  European  wars  which  may 
happen,  and  which  are  conflantly  liable  to  happen, 
we  mall  find  ourfelves  without  feamen  or  fliips  to 
avail  ourfelves  of  that  neutral  pofition,  which  reflec- 
tion and  experience  equally  warrant  us  in  calculat- 
ing upon  as  one  of  the  bleffmgs  allied  to  our  re- 
mote and  fecure  fituation. 

On  the  whole:  Your  memorialing  cannot  refrain 
from  expreffing  the  belief  with  which  they  are 
ftrongly  imprefled,  that  to  repeal  the  difcriininatinfr 
laws  which  have  operated  fo  happily  to  incretft 
our  navigation  and  commerce,  would  be  a  meafure 
highly  prejudicial  to  various  and  important  interefts 
in  the  communiry,  detrimental  to  the  revenues  of 
the  country,  and,  in  a  national  point  of  view,  ex- 
tremely impolitic. 

They,  therefore,  pray  that  the  repeal  may  not 
take  place. 

New-Tor k,  15 /A  January,  1 8  03. 

JOHN  MURRAY,  President. 
J.  H.  LAURENCE,  Secretary. 


